Blackhawks rout Wild

Oct 29, 2013 - 3:21 AM

St. Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad each tallied
a goal and an assist to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 5-1 victory over the
Minnesota Wild on Monday in the finale of a home-and-home series at Xcel
Energy Center.

Nick Leddy, Patrick Sharp and Sheldon Brookbank added a goal apiece for the
Blackhawks, who had dropped their last two games.

"I liked the results of everybody tonight," Chicago head coach Joel
Quenneville said. "I thought we had a very business-like approach to the game,
played with a purpose and got some contributions across the board."

Corey Crawford turned away 29 shots in the triumph.

Jason Pominville potted the lone Minnesota marker, while Niklas Backstrom
allowed all five goals on 28 shots for the Wild, had won three straight after
taking a 5-3 decision in Chicago on Saturday.

"It was clear to me our execution wasn't as good as it needs to be against
that team," Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo said. "You need to make plays."

Pominville's seventh of the season tied the game at 1-1 with 8:33 left in the
second, but the Blackhawks responded with four unanswered goals to seize
control of the contest.

Brookbank started the outburst under two minutes after Pominville's goal, as
he one-timed a shot from the top of the right circle that sailed past a
sprawling Backstrom to make it 2-1 at the 13:21 mark.

With Chicago skating on the power play under 3 1/2 minutes later, Leddy rifled
a shot from above the left circle the beat Backstrom high to the glove-side
for a 3-1 lead at 16:43.

Saad had a hand in both of Chicago's third-period goals, with his no-look,
backhand feed from the left circle setting up Kane's tap-in from the low right
side that extended the lead to 4-1 less than three minutes into the third.

Just under six minutes later, Saad slipped a backhand through the five-hole of
Backstrom for a comfortable four-goal cushion with 11:17 remaining.

Early on, Sharp scored his second of the season with 2:27 left in the opening
period to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.

Game Notes

Chicago hasn't lost three straight games in the regular season since Feb.
23-26, 2012 ... Pominville has three goals in his last two games ... Chicago
went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Minnesota failed on its three chances on
the man advantage ... Chicago's Brandon Pirri finished with two assists.